The prior art discloses a carrying body of the above mentioned type with the carrying body being shaped like a boot and having a rear end which is fully open for entry through the filler gun nozzle and the gun head, and a front end with a substantially smaller opening through which the filler gun nozzle extends when the carrying body is fitted onto the filler gun. A carrying body of such prior art type has an upper surface which effectively covers the upper region of the gun head in order to define the elongate display surface for messages. Such carrying bodies are suitable for use in countries having only a very limited number of filler gun types, such as, for example, in Norway, Denmark, Germany and Sweden. However, in other areas of the world, the number of differently designed filler guns may be substantially higher. In the United States of America, for example, the number of differently shaped filler guns is in excess of ten. Such a large number of different types of filler guns requires a large number of differently formed carrying bodies. In practice, it is difficult to obtain the same display surface area and configuration for each carrying body type. Also, some filler guns are so designed that it is difficult to design an easily fitted and removable carrying body.
It is highly desirable to have a carrying body which is easily attachable to the filler gun even by an inexperienced person, and also to have a carrying body which is easily removable from the filler gun when maintenance is to be carried out on the filler gun, e.g. repair of fuel valve means within the filler gun head.
Most filler guns are known to have the gun head covered by a protective boot of rubber or plastic material, both for protecting the gun head against damage and to prevent a bare gun head from making scratches on a car's paint work. Removing such protective boot from a filler gun in order to mount a carrying body according to the present invention is both time consuming, resulting in a waste of such boot material, and causes the gun head to be less protected. The present invention therefore also includes the feature of being able to be fitted onto a filler gun without having to remove such protective boot.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention, the carrying body comprises a first member and a second member and means for releasably interconnecting the first and second members, the first and second members being shaped to generally conform, when so interconnected, to enclose the side, bottom, and upper portions of the gun head, and means removably connected to a top surface of the carrying body for supporting a replaceable message card placed on the display surface of the first member.
According to another embodiment of the present display apparatus, the carrying body comprises a lower member and an upper member releasably engagable with the lower member, the lower member having two side panels and means for interconnecting the side panels. The lower member, when the two side panels are brought to lie against the gun head, substantially fitting around a lower part of the gun head. The side panels have at their top region a first interlocking means, the upper member being formed as a cap-like member to fit over an upper part of the gun head and having a second interlocking means for releasably engaging the first interlocking means on the lower member, and a top member releasably engagable with the upper member. The top member has means for releasable engagement with the upper member, space being provided between an upper surface of the upper member and a portion of the top member for locating a replaceable message card when the top member and the upper member engage.
When the filler gun head is of the type already covered by a protective boot of rubber of plastic material, the carrying body can be fitted on the filler gun without having to remove the protective boot.
In a further embodiment of the display apparatus, the carrying body comprises a lower member and an upper member releasably engagable with the lower member, and further a top member which is releasably engagable with the upper member. The top member has a curved configuration along its length.
According to a further embodiment of the display apparatus, the carrying body may comprise a lower member, an upper member releasably engagable with the lower member, the lower member having two side panels and means for interconnecting the side panels. The lower member, when the two side panels are brought to lie against the gun head, substantially surround a lower part of the gun head. The side panels have at their top regions a first interlocking means, the upper member is formed as a cap-like means to fit over an upper part of the gun head, and having a second interlocking means for releasable engaging the first interlocking means onto the lower member. The upper member may have an upper (top) surface for locating a replaceable message card, the upper surface having along at least a portion of its peripheral edge an upwardly extending rim, and means protruding upwardly from the upper (top) surface for releasably engaging holes in the message card. This latter embodiment is also useful on a filler gun which has its gun head covered by a protective boot, because there is no need to remove the protective boot before fitting the carrying body to the filler gun.
According to the invention, it is also possible to provide a carrying body comprising a lower member, and an upper member releasably engagable with the lower member, the upper member having a top surface with a curved configuration along its length.
Although, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention the two side panels are brought towards each other to lie against opposite sides of the gun head, it is possible, with a choice of suitable material for the lower member, to have the two side panels integrally joined at a front region thereof. Such a variant may be useful in order to provide typical male/female elements for matching and joining front region edges of the two side panels.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two side panels are suitably formed as two separate panels which are provided with interconnecting means, such as snap-lock means.
Contrary to the prior art carrying body, the carrying body of the present invention is made of a substantially hard plastic material e.g. polyamide. The pivotally connected member or top member is also suitably made of a substantially hard plastic material, e.g. polycarbonate.
If the carrying body is provided with a pivotally connected top member, such member may have a lid with a transparent face portion for viewing a message therethrough, or a frame with an open space between opposite sides of the frame. In the case of a frame, the frame can be made of a transparent or non-transparent material, for example, polycarbonate, and the color thereof can, for example, be the same color as that of the carrying body, or a color which contrasts with the color of the carrying body. Also, such frame could have a portion carrying information related to the type of fuel supplied from the gun. Further, in order to more easily detach the frame from the upper member, the upper member may at a peripheral region adjacent to a corresponding portion of the frame have a transverse dimension which is less than the transverse dimension of the frame.
The existence in a given market area of a significant number of differently sized and shaped filler guns creates the problem of being able to affix to all, or substantially all of such filler guns, message cards having a uniform size and shape. The present invention obviates this problem.
This is accomplished by affixing to such filler guns shell-like members which are so sized and configured as to reasonably closely conform to the corresponding outer side and bottom surfaces of the filler gun. The shell-like members support thereon a top lid or the like which may be integrally formed with, or separately fabricated and attached to, said members which surround said side and bottom surfaces. The outer configuration of such top lid is formed in size and outer contour so as to attach to the above-mentioned shell-like members. The top surface is further provided with a message card receiving cavity or the like which is so sized and configured as to removably support all message cards of standard size and configuration.
These, and further, embodiments of the display apparatus according to the present invention will appear from the description below with reference to the attached drawing figures, as well as the attached patent claims.